Steering wheel



Feb. 2, 1932. HUS-[ED 1,843,324

STEERING WHEEL Filed Jan. 7, 1929 Fig. 4-.

INVENTOR n/eky & h uarea ATTORNEY to ig. 2.

PatentedFelaZ 1932 1,843,324

NT OFFICE.

2 'HARRY A. nns rnn, on CLEVELAND, oHIo, ASSIGNOR T rrrn'n. A. nosmnnconrany,

, i or nn'rnonr, MICHIGAN, 'A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN. Y

I a STEERING App1ication filed January 7, 1929. Serial No. 330,780.

This invention relates to steering wheels, Fig. 4 is vasection taken. on the line 4-4 of and particularly to steering wheels of the Fig. 2 showing the shape of one of the spokes. reinforced composition material type. "This Heretofore, steering Wheels formed of com- H invention furthermore is an improvement position material molded around a reinforcis 5 overt-he invention shown in my copending ing spider a'ndhavin'g a separately formed 5 application Serial No. 167,387 filed Februhub member, have never been provided witha my 1 1, 1927, which contains dominating satisfactory'rigid connection between the hub. claims. i Y and reinforcing means. Ithas been found or The principal object of this invention is to thattlie composition material expands and 1 provide a composition steering wheel which contracts a substantial amount during is heat in appearance, economicalto manuchanges in weather conditions, with the refacture, and extremely rigid'in construction. suit that the bolts which secure the hub to Another object is to provide a composition the wheel become loosened during contraction is steering wheel with a'reinforcing spider emof the composition material, certain sweating 15 bedded in the composition material and a between the connected parts occurs, and the separately formed hub portion having" compositionmaterial tends to fiow under the ing means thereon extending into thecom-p pressure of the securing bolts for the hub. position material. v 1 V This has the very serious disadvantage that A further object is to providea composi-- the bolts may, in time,workout'or allow the '0 tion steering wheel-with a reinforcing spider" whceltobecome loose on the hub. Y-The con;

embedded v in the composition material I and DGCiJlOIl Of the wheel to the hub may be weak-v I a with a separately formed hub secured thereenedanclcau'se a serious accident. Furtherto and having metal to metal 1 contact 'with morein wheels of this type used in the past,

tlie reinforcing spider. I I the boltspwhich secure the hub to the spider 'Astill' further object is to provide a comhave always, taken all the driving strain position steering wheel with a reinforcing exerted'during the steering'of the vehicle on spider embeddedin the composition material which the wheel is usedfj These bolts finally and with a separately formed hub having become bent, with the result that in many inmeans extending into the composition mastances it is very diificult to tighten or remove 3O terial contacting with the metal "of the spider them. up 6 to form'driving means and to provide means It is therefore the-aim of the present inven for carrying'the securing bolts. 1 tion to overcome thesedisadvantages in the These being among theobject-s of the presmanner set forth intheifollowing'descrip 4 Went invention, the same consists of. certain tion. j v 35 features of construction andcombinations R f i t th accompanying drawings of Pa e hereinafter, Q b it inlwhich like numerals refer to like parts erence to the accprnpalf y g dmWlngs: nd throughout the several views, the'reinforcing q m havlvlplg wbQY n other bj spider for the: Wheel, which is preferably l fw' t b1 stamped from a single piece of metal, is 40 n 13 C rawmgs W 16 us m1e aflsrul a 5" formed witha central hub 1, inte ralspokes 2 embodiment of the present lnvention. i th f 3 Figure 1 is a'perspectiv e view of a steering 3 1a eye 5 913 1 con m mwheel having portionsbroken away to show ntegra ytmlte w Q s The the hub and reinforcing spider. of Splder as w t -1, ,s-shared I 4 Fig.2 is an enlarged plan viewof the cen; 1 t and. v i flr r l 95' tral portion of the wheel having a portion of extendmg a g 9 $Q g PW the compositionmaterial broken awayaround Wa y. extfildlllg fl nges'5 along thelnner 3 a reinforcing ring and oneof the spokes. 1 (edges thereof, fllheflangese and 5 13Ogether Fig.3 is a sectiontakenon the line of lwith the web betweenthe same provide the; i H

T 1 1 rim 3- with an outer upwardly"- presenting 1M channel 6 and an inner downwardly presenting channel 7.

The internal flanged portion of the hub 1 of the spider is generally L-shaped in section as shown in Fig. 3 and has a downwardly extending flange 9 and a central hub opening. The spokes 2 as shown in Fig. 1 are generally M-shaped in section and have downwardly extending side flanges 10 which are continuous with the inner flanges 5 of the rim 3 and the flanges 9 of the hub 1. The flanges 10 of each spoke 2 together with the deformed web interconnecting the same, provide the spoke with an upwardly presenting channel 11 longitudinally thereof and extending into the outer rim groove 6, and with spaced downwardly presenting channels 12 extending into or continuous with the inner rim groove 7. The upwardly presenting channels 11 of the spokes 2 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, extend through the hub 1 to the inner edge thereof. An anchor ring 13' is mounted on the upper face of the hub portion -1 of the spider. A plurality of spaced threaded openings 14 and 14a are formed around the anchor ring 13, the openings 1 f being in axial alignment with similar openings in the hub 1 of the spider. The openings 14a are postioned in the ring 13 to lie directly above the upwardly presenting channels 11 formed in the spokes 2 of the spider for a purpose which will soon be described.

The reinforcing spider is formed with integral hub, spoke and rim portions which are flanged and channeled, as just described, to provide substantially uniform strength throughout every portion of the wheel, so that in the event of a serious wreck, the driver of the vehicle will not be injured by breakage of the steering wheel.

A plurality of perforations 15 are preferably formed in the spokes 2 of the spider, and also in the rim 3, although they are not specifically shown in the rim in the drawings. The composition material 16 that is molded around the spider is subjected to heat and pressure that cause it to flow around the spider and through the perforations 15 to intimately contact with the metal thereof at all points and become bonded thereto, as shown in the drawings. During the molding process the composition material 16 flows through the openings 14a in the reinforcing ring 13 so that it is integrally united through the openings.

The steering wheel is provided with a separately formed hub 17 having a central conical opening 18 therein for positioning it on the steering column shaft not shown) of a vehicle. The hub 17 is formed with a plane upper surface 19 against which the lower surface of the steering wheel seats when the hub and wheel are assembled. A plurality of spaced integral driving lugs 20 are formed on the hub to project upwardly from the upper face 19 thereof, and are drilled to provide openings 21 having the same spacing as the openings lt formed in the reinforcing ring 13 for the spider.

When the composition material 16 is molded around the spider, suitable cores are provided in the mold, so that openings 22 will be formed in the wheel which have the same axes as the spider hub openings 14L and which extend from the flat lower face of the wheel hub portion to the spider hub 1. These openings 22 register with and receive the lugs 20 formed on the hub 17 when the wheels are assembled. v

In assembled position the lugs 20 extend into the openings 22 formed in the composition material and abut against the lower face of the spider hub 1. Screws 23 extending through the lug openings 21 and threaded into the openings 14: in the spider hub and anchor ring 13, firmly secure the same together, providing metal to metal contact therebetween. The lower hub face of the wheel also normally seats against the plane face 19 of the hub 17 as shown in Fig. 3.

It can be seen that any substantial amount of shrinkage or contraction of the composition material due to weather changes or flow of the material in service will in no way affect the relationship between the hub 17 and the reinforcing spider hub, because the screws 23 firmly secure the same together in contacting relationship. It can be seen that this has a decided advantage over constructions previously used wherein there was no metal to metal contact between the separately formed hub and any part of the wheel. It is evident that by providing a metal to metal contact in the present invention, the probability of the securing screws becoming loosened is materially lessened. I

It can also be seen in the present invention that the securing screws are not subjected to bending stresses produced during the steering of the vehicle on which the wheel is used, because they are encased throughout their length by the driving lugs 20 which are formed integral with the hub 17. These securing screws 23 are, however, subjected to certain shearing stresses, which are not appreciable in an article of the class described.

It is to be understood, however, that the sections of the reinforcing spider and other parts of the steering wheel areshown for purposes of explanation and illustration only, and that formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described without departing from the spirit and substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A steering wheel comprising a reinforcing spider, composition material completely molded around said spider, it separately reinforcing spider, composition material.

molded completely around said spider, a separately formed metallic wheel hub spaced from said spider by said composition material, driving lugs formed integral with said hub extending into said composition material and contacting with said spider,and securing means for attaching said hub to said spider.

4. A steering wheel comprising a metallic reinforcing spider having a hub portion, composition material molded completely around said hub portion, a separately formed metallic wheel hub spaced from said spider hub by said composition material, driving lugs formed integral with said separately formed hub ex tending into said composition material and contacting with said spider hub, and securing means extending through said lugs for securing said hub to said wheel.

5. A steering wheel comprising a metallic one-piece reinforcing spider having an 111- tegral central hub portion, composition material completely surrounding said spider, a separately formed metallic wheel hub spaced from said spider hub by said composition material, driving lugs formed integral with said separately formed .hub and extending into saidcomposition material to engage said spider hub, and screw means carried by said driving lugs and threaded into said spider hub to rigidly unite the same for permitting expansion and contraction of said composition material without affecting the relative positions of said spider hub and separately formed hub.

V 6. A steering wheel comprising a metallic reinforcing spider having an integral central hub portion, an annular reinforcing ring se cured to the upper surface of said hub porrelative positions of said spider and separately formed hub.

7. In a composltion steering wheel having an embedded metallic reinforcing spider, a separately formed wheel hub spaced from said spider by said composition, means for securing said wheel to said hub, and means permitting contraction and expansion of said composition without aifecting the relative positions of said spider and hub.

8. In a composition steering wheel having an embedded metallic reinforcing spider, a separately formed wheel hub spaced from said spider by said composition, means for securing said wheel to said hub, and means permitting contraction and expansion of said composition without affecting the relative positions of said spider and hub, comprising screw means extending through said hub and threaded into said spider, and metallic means on said hub surrounding said screw means to engage said spider with metal to metal contact. V

'In testimony I HARRY A. HUSTED.

whereof I aflix my signature. I

tion, composition material molded completely Y around said annular ring and hub portion, a separately formed wheel hub spaced from central hub portion by said composition material, driving lugs formed integral with said hub and extending into said composition material, screw means extending through said lugs and threaded into said spider hub and reinforcing ring for rigidly engaging said lugs with the lower face of said spider hub to permit contraction and expansion of said composition material without disturbing the 

